First, a primer: SPARKcon is a festival celebrating and nurturing the local creativity of Raleigh and the Triangle region of NC. It’s 100% volunteer… everyone involved runs entirely on enthusiasm, passion and talent, with a bit of support from some wonderful sponsors! This past weekend was the third year for SPARKcon, and it showcased all sorts of talent communities, including breakdancers, yogis, craftspeople, spoken word artists, hoola hoopers, music of all kinds, art, film, fashion and more.

FashionSPARK is an outdoor runway show which featured 13 local fashion designers’ work, as well as fabulous hair and makeup by local stylists. The show was beautifully directed by Allison Beale.

fabulous hair by Jesse and Carla of Marigold Parlour, makeup also by Marigold, fashion by Domino

woodland nymph fashion by Domino

doggy designs by Montage

fashion by Lllavender, hair by Salon Blu

fashion by Metallic Spiral, styled by Marigold Parlour

fashion by Marie Cordella, styled by Atomic Salon

The SPARKcon website is in a constant state of being updated. Check it for more pictures, designer info and links.

Ron Liberti's interpretation of a film poster for DYSP

Died Young Stayed Pretty, directed by Eileen Yaghoobian, is a documentary about rock posters and their designers, some of whom are Raleigh natives, artists featured in a Designbox Rock Poster Show 5 years ago called StuckUp (Casey Burns, Ron Liberti and Dale Flattum), and one is even a Designbox alum (Dale Flattum). WOOHOO! We’re famous!

“This unique documentary examines the creative spirit that drives these indie graphic artists. They pick through the dregs of America’s schizophrenic culture and piece them back together. What you end up with is a caricature of the black and bloated heart that pulses greed through the US economy. The artists push further into the pulp to grab the attention of passersby, plastering art that’s both vulgar and intensely visceral onto the gnarled surfaces of the urban landscape.” (from the film synopsis)

The film will have it’s world premiere at the Montreal World Film Festival on August 29.

See the film site for a full description, stills and video trailer as well as more artist posters.

Asheboro, the town I grew up in, was the largest dry city in the state of North Carolina — until yesterday. Yes, after years and years of the alcohol referendums failing at the polls, people can now actually order a drink at a restaurant instead of literally brown-baggin it.

There were some who were not so happy, however. Dr. John Rogers, opposed to the referendum, said, “This outcome illustrates our war with our culture that is so saturated, particularly with alcohol.”

As for me, I say, “Cheers!”

10. WASHINGTON PARK, the Japanese Garden and the Portland Rose Garden
All three of these beautiful areas are basically in the same spot. Washington Park is a huge 400 acre park with many walking trails and beautiful views of Mt Hood and Portland as well as quiet area beneath the huge trees. The Japanese Garden is absolutely beautiful, with different areas of the gardens coming to life in different seasons. And the Rose Garden has over 6800 rose bushes representing 557 varieties – major wow!

9. SOUTH WATERFRONT PARK
Portland reclaimed it’s Willamette waterfront for the people with this waterfront park. Get great views of all of the bridges, plus a really nice walk or bike or skate along the river. On the southernmost end of the walk, there is a small marina and nice outdoor cafes to enjoy some perfect July weather.

8. PEARL DISTRICT – downtown
ok, this is cheating in my top ten, cause there’s lotsa stuff in the Pearl that you have to see. They are all in walking distance to each other, so you can make a day of it, and then be there in time for Happy Hour!
• POWELL’S BOOKS – the largest independent bookstore in the world. It’s awesome, with collections of basically everything with used and out of print mixed in with the new. You simply cannot go to Portland without visiting Powell’s.
• Museum of Contemporary Craft – they had a great show while we were there. The gift store is impressive too, lots beautiful of glass, pottery and jewelry.
• Tanner Springs Park and Jamison Square – I mentioned these parks in an earlier post. Tanner Springs is a beautiful small natural area, very well done, and Jamison Park is a fun urban kids play fountain

7. a tie for VENDETTA and Rontom’s-
Vendetta = hip yet casual drinks and snacks hangout – great patio!
Rontom’s = mid-century mecca yet casual drinks and snacks hangout – get the Mojito with Cilantro in it – yum!

6. MISSISSIPPI AVE ARTS DISTRICT – see a buncha cool art on “Last Thursdays,” go to the BLACK WAGON for some hipper than thou baby stuff (and cool art), step across the street and have a martini to some cool grooves at Moloko Plus (used to be Mississippi Avenue Social Club), or grab a beer in a much more casual spot, complete with a veggie brat at Amnesia Brewing. And if you are there in July, you can’t miss the Mississippi Ave Street Fair! It puts those cute little town arts fairs to shame.

5. HAWTHORNE DISTRICT - go ahead and get your Stumptown Coffee on Belmont or Fresh Pot coffee on Hawthorne, then peruse the street for all of it’s awesome vintage shops, especially, House of Vintage, check out the Bagdad Theater and Pub, and enjoy all kinds of delicious small restaurants and pubs.

4. Broder – gotta go for brunch – Swedish food, whatever that means. All I know is that for brunch I got this awesome baked scramble in its own teeny tiny iron skillet – so cute – and great! It’s a tiny cute little spot…don’t forget to order the adorable Danish pancakes.

3. Alibi Restaurant and Lounge – totally authentic Tiki – LOVE IT – the cocktails are great and decorated with paper umbrellas, and there is Karaoke every night. One of my most memorable places to visit in Portland.

2. SATURDAY FARMER’S MARKET – If you’re in Portland on a Saturday, you just gotta go. Local. Delicious. Fun. Music. etc. See an earlier post for a larger description.

1. NAVARRE – Portland’s full of great eats and drinks. Navarre is at the top of the list. Navarre is a small place which truly changes it’s menu based on what they received from a local farmer. Everything feels as if it was cooked for you, served casually, family style, and desserts and wines are chosen specifically to pair with the food. this is a great date night, gathering of friends or casual night out for treats. Deelish. (we did a full write-up on Navarre last year. see it here.)

Other fun places:
mod shopping: Hive Modern, Relish, Canoe
chains but worth seeing Portland Style: Whole Foods Portland, DWR Showroom, West Elm, Horny Toad’s Lizard Lounge
other awesome eats: Bay 13 (seafood), Silk (vietnamese), Pok Pok (thai), Beast (euro-portland),
Voodoo Doughnuts, Hotlips Pizza (and homemade fruit soda!), Burgerville

Check Portland Octopus out for a lot of great Portland info.

Last month (June 6), Endless Grind and FM Goods of Raleigh had a collaborative show and benefit called “Drawing Blanks.” A bunch of blank skateboard decks were painted by local artists, and then they were all silent auctioned on the First Friday in June. The auction benefitted The Disabled American Veterans of NC.

The show was great and packed! but the audience was more into the scene than owning any of the decks. Lucky for me, cause I scored these 3 Paul Friedrich cowboys for a nice price! Picked ‘em up today and just had to share.

Our friends over at Humble Pie, a restaurant located near our office, came to us looking for help redesigning their website. The website that they had was not working for them any more… it was misleading, dated, and the biggest problem of all was that they were unable to make updates on it easily. Not being “computer gurus,” the Humble Pie guys requested a new site that would be easy/foolproof for them to update, with their latest menus, events, and specials. We did some research, found a content management system that fit their needs, designed, designed, designed, then TA-DA! After a short tutorial session on how to make the updates, Humble Pie was back on the web scene with a whole new look.

If you ever find yourself in the Raleigh area and have an itch in your throat needing quenching or a grumble in your tummy needing satisfying visit Humble Pie.

Here is the key to what these maps track:

When you visit the site, you can mouse over each icon to learn more about the definition – like who knew there was a difference between theft, burglary and robbery?

Anyway, looking at the NC maps, it seems different cities can claim expertise for different types of crime.

Raleigh, for instance, is very skilled in assault and theft:

Durham, on the other hand, is all about shootings. I don’t actually believe this map, as those of us who love Durham know that the crime rate is maybe just a li’l bit high. I surmise that they only have time to track the most grievous crimes (shootings) and all the others are just too overwhelming to count:

And lets not forget Charlotte. Their strength is burglaries – it is the banking capital after all. Doesn’t this map make burglaries look awesome? All those little guys look like they’re having a blast!

Wandering this show requires comfy shoes or else wheels. So you must weave your way between booths, skateboards, and people bounding on the latest springy leg contraptions.

As a member of IDEAS, a design/trends collective subsidized by ISPO itself, we set up some simple displays, sell our color cards and let people rifle through our portfolios.

Though the more eager ones among us try to sell from their “book,” I prefer to wander the show during the day searching for new material and get insights to new trends in fabrications and design. Then at night, hang out with the IDEAS gang to discuss what we’re doing/thinking, and what we’ve seen from our various viewpoints. This can happen all over Munich, but tends to conclude at the famous Shiller (Boxing) Bar started by Andrea Lanweider and Hans Fretz.

I was folded into IDEAS by Nadine Cino who was recruiting more American designers at the lackluster Super Show to join a group of exceptionally talented designers from all over Europe, Japan, and even Iceland. Part of the benefits of being a member was to exhibit at ISPO and get involved in color trends with a diverse set of perspectives. The application process was pretty serious but the more I knew about the group the more eager I was to join this network and they welcomed me quite warmly.

In the early days we had color meetings during the ISPO show. My first meeting included the visionary Vittorio Giomo who successfully predicted the dominant trend of charcoal greys in apparel (years ago) by refocusing on the naked human body – and then building a pallet that complemented this perspective. It was an eye-opener to take a philosophical approach to color like this but I loved the process and could certainly appreciate the results. Each season has a group of IDEAS members selling their insight on coming trends. Unfortunately these trend meetings are done in between ISPO’s now, and I cannot swing the extra trip.

Eventually IDEAS helped inform us for the concept for Designbox. Like most associations of creative people, IDEAS has a “dynamic uncertainty” that plagues the group on who we are or what we will become next. For me I see that these times are usually accompanied by a drop in new applicants.

But when a new member shows up, the older ones have to help explain what the group is and the positive aspects of different members they might otherwise criticize. In the end it’s the new energy of a fresh member who makes a group gel. If in Africa, “it takes a village to raise a child,” I believe that in creative networks “it takes a newcomer to build the village.”

As a Raleighite (not sure if that is the correct term or not) I am always interested in how other people perceive my city and what places they believe are note worthy. I think that Rachel did a pretty decent job when making her list, But I’m definitely not entirely in agreement. They choose:

to describe our “Smart Locals”: NC State University, Global Village, Reader’s Corner, & Artspace I like this list… but lets go ahead and add Cup of Joe, Quail Ridge Bookstore, and Museum Park at NC Museum of Art

to describe our “Late Night Scene”: Velvet Cloak Inn, Mosaic, & Sushi Blues Cafe
Yes, The Velvet Cloak Inn definitely has charm, Mosaic has a unique feel, and Sushi Blues has 1/2 priced sushi on Tuesday & Thursday Nites. But what about places to go that are off of the Glenwood Ave strip? Raleigh Times, Riviera, Five Star, the Rockford, Landmark Tavern

to describe our “Date Spots”: Hi-5, Turkish Delights, Red Room, & Cupcake Shoppe Bakery
I’m ok with the Cupcake Shoppe (though it is a bit too “sweet” for my taste in dates) and Hi-5 (there better be a good game ie basketball on TV and I better be able to sit), but if someone thinks I would want to go on a date to Turkish Delights or Red Room they are kidding their selves, and I might as well head out on my own. Since Everyday’s list kept with the food/drink theme I’ll do the same… Vin, Poole’s Diner, Lily’s Pizza, Humble Pie, the Borough, J. Betski’s

* Raleigh has been receiving notice for the single scene (at least 6 previous times ranked) among other things for years, check out the list here.

I’m not gonna trash where I ate. It was nice. The service was fine (except for the host…she needs some lessons in hospitality). The restaurant was attractive. The food was good. blah blah blah. It was blah.

I want to mention 2 places specifically as my examples of great restaurants – ones I will return to again and again: Mo’s Diner in Raleigh, NC, (here’s a Mo’s review) and Navarre in Portland, OR. I think the reason I love these restaurants is that the intent of each is very clear, and every element of the restaurant reinforces that intent, thus creating a wonderful experience for the patron (me!).

image of Navarre in Portland, Oregon.

I’m not necessarily talking about chichi interior design, choosing Philippe Starck or using all the latest Maharam textiles. I’m not necessarily talking about a chef with a “name” or food piled high for a “Gourmet Magazine” shoot. I’m talking about the experience.

Navarre and Mo’s Diner are very different from each other, but they both give a feeling of the proprietor’s vision. The dining rooms are comfortable, unique and unpretentious while still feeling nice enough for date night. Both places are small, so they are naturally more intimate than a large dining room. Each atmosphere fits so nicely with the style of the food and service that it just becomes a part of the enjoyment of the tastes and conversations. Everything down to the graphic design of the menus reflects the vision.

In a great restaurant, the service is impeccable, yet within it’s own style. Mo’s Diner has a semi-formal white table cloth service. The waiters are obviously experienced, and are amazingly unobtrusive. Navarre’s service is a bit more casual, with a tapas or family style approach to plating the food. The staff in either is knowledgeable about everything on the menu – like they really know about it – they have eaten it, seen it prepared and heard how excited the chef is about it…much much more than memorizing the specials and name-dropping a few trendy ingredients.

image of Mo’s Diner in Raleigh, NC

The food is fantastic, and the selection of plates is obviously taken seriously. The menu items change by the season or even the week. They are small menus showcasing what the chef is excited about, as well as what local flavors they have been able to get their hands on. In fact, these 2 restaurants take on a social responsibility involving the food they serve, knowing where the farms are, how the produce or animals are treated and how fresh the food is by the time it reaches their restaurant.

Have you ever gone to dinner at the home of a very good cook? And as they bring plates out you can see their passion for what they just created? You can see their anticipation while watching you take the first bite. They want you to love it. That’s what going to a great restaurant feels like. That is what Navarre and Mo’s Diner feel like.

All in all, the more authentic, understandable and whole the vision is, the more appealing the experience is. People can feel the soul to the place – from the atmosphere, to the staff to the food. And the ones that love it will return again and again. Restaurants that hide their lack of passion and vision by resorting only to fancy interior design tricks, exotic ingredients, and a corporate approach to service will be the hottest thing out there for a few months, but the lack of heart will ultimately leave people hungry for more.